Booking your promises: accounting for postemployment benefits

Article Abstract:

Employers may soon have to report other postemployment benefits (OPEB), particularly health care, which would cause minimum liabilities on companies' balance sheets. The Financial Accounting Standards Board (FASB) has proposed requiring companies report OPEB as such benefits are accrued by employees rather than after retirement. Unlike pension costs, OPEB costs: frequently do not have upper limits; occur as claims are filed rather than as benefits are earned; and usually extend to retirees' spouses and children. The FASB proposal recommends a benefits/years method of service attribution that would start on the date of hire and end when employees qualify for full benefits. Theoretical considerations in the FASB's requiring inclusion of OPEB in companies' financial statements include: expense and obligation measurement; footnote disclosure; and relevance vs. reliability.

Laws, regulations and rules, Accounting and auditing, Employee benefits, Retirement benefits, Financial Accounting Standards Board

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Computer system costs: the rest of the story

Article Abstract:

The initial price of computer systems is significantly less than the total cost regardless of the size of the system. Companies should examine operational costs before selecting a particular system. The additional operational costs include user orientation and training, maintenance, and upgrades of both hardware and software.

Software, Computers, Digital computers

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